X-50 UI and Controller issues

[Aiph5u (Aiph5u (not affiliated with Onefinity))]

Hey Robert,

@RobertD

I have the newer version controller with the push button,

Even if computer error messages look like chinese to ordinary users, there was always a programmer that programmed the error message and its exact wording to get a message about where the error lies, in order to be able to help the user. That is why it is wise to provide the exact error message when calling for help.

@RobertD

and I promise you 5 days ago, the 3D toolpath simulation displayed on the main display connected to the controller,

the question here is not if I believe you (I do) but if you can tell the forum how to reproduce the error.

What I can say is, the Raspbian system that is installed on the SD card inside the Onefinity controller has no 3D graphics acceleration drivers installed. It is not able to display the 3D toolpath simulation.

I don’t know if the buttons row that you marked above should appear, because at the moment I have no monitor on the Onefinity Controller, but should they appear but disappear sometimes, I would report this in the topic of the Firmware version you are using (Firmware 1.3 (Most Recent) in this case).

@RobertD

Would you have any insight as to why there is now pathing errors developing

@RobertD

In this photo you can clearly see that the alignment of the outline is in places .050 of an inch or more off of the cross hatching

You don’t say anything about how you set the workpiece zero. Are you zeroing between the two passes, and how?

If you think you lost steps, then there are these support documents for checking the possible causes one by one:

• Troubleshooting: Rail is getting hung, stuck, or out of alignment (x35/x50 machines)

and

• Z Axis Moving Unexpectedly (Cutting too shallow or too deep)

for details on the possible causes of such issues. I would check all points one by one in the first help document to see why your carriage could possibly loose steps.

You can still think of Electromagnetic interference (EMI), as e.g. mentioned here, if you have…

1. …stepper cables that are not shielded and grounded. EMI can act on a cable but a cable also emit EMI.

2. A VFD that is not enclosed in a grounded VFD Control Cabinet. A VFD is a heavy source of EMI, because the three-phase current that it creates by switching LGBTs often does not consist of nice sine waves.

3. A spindle power cable that is not properly shielded and terminated (for this, see also this important document)

Also is your machine properly rectangular (“squared”) (bar gauge) and coplanar (“not twisted”) (fishing line method) ? This however would mainly affect the Y axis movement where the Y carriages can block.

@Aiph5u

…have you ensured that your machine is accurately rectangular (“squared”) and coplanar (“not twisted”)?

Also Onefinity provides a help file which deals with many kinds of blocking of an axis:

• Troubleshooting: Rail is getting hung, stuck, or out of alignment

I would check all points one by one to see why your carriage does not move anymore in the middle of the axis.

There are three causes that are not mentioned in the document above:

1. Should your machine not be properly rectangular (“squared”), the Y movement can block.

2. And the second possible cause not mentioned in the document above is: This mysterious issue some time ago.

3. Electromagnetic interference (EMI), as e.g. mentioned here.

If you loose steps, I add here some quotings from forum search results:

@Aiph5u

…please also think of connectors and cables possibly failing. Especially the curly Z cable! It can fail by an internal cable break and make Z positioning errors before failing completely.

Also think of connectors are only tin-plated and can have bad contacts:

@Aiph5u

Also as you can read in the document “Troubleshooting: Rail is getting hung, stuck, or out of alignment (x35/x50 machines)”, there are some tips on cable and connector checking, and the Onefinity Elite uses the same type of non-shielded control cables with similar tin-plated Molex/Amphenol connectors and also with same lacking strain relief as the Standard Series, so I would have a look at some defects like these:

and also follow the tips for these:

@OnefinityCNC

Disconnect all wires on the rail that isn’t moving, from controller to motor, triple check all 4 pins inside each connector are present, straight, and leveled with each other. Then reconnect all connections, ensuring they fit very snuggly and 'snap ’ together. Here’s some pictures of a bad wire and a pin pushed in.

To check all of these cables/connectors, after having followed the tips from the manufacturer above which consists of reseating the connectors, inspecting the crimp on their pins, etc., and this leads to no success, I would thoroughly check them this way:

@Aiph5u

To check the cable, I would unplug it on the controller side and on the other end and check all four wires one by one for conductivity between both ends, by using a multimeter set to resistance (ohms). But it could be that you measure that everything is okay because the fault my appear only in certain moments, in certain positions of the cable, when you move it, etc. Usually it’s the motion on a cable that is not made for permanent motion that can make problems after a while, mostly where the individual wire is crimped into the contact, or between the contacts which unfortunately are only tin-plated which means movement and/or corrosion can wear the plating leaving the bare copper open to air which is even more prone to corrosion. In this case, a little amount of KONTAKT 60 and then KONTAKT 61 can help.

And finally think of retrofitting strain relief. The stepper cables on the side hang around freely during movement, that is not good for the connectors and the wires in them.

@Aiph5u

everytime I hear this it makes me so sad because I belong those who appreciate the existence of wood so much, and most frequent causes to ruin it with the machine usually would not even need to be. I assume you have the Standard Series machine that can show problems with the connectors, especially because of the lack of strain relief on this machine .

@Aiph5u

the Cable Connectors used on Onefinity are the weak spot on the Onefinity (not the controller), especially in combination with the lack of strain relief on this machine. As someone who has assembled and troubleshot many computers, I can’t have a good opinion of such tin-plated connector contacts. The Onefinity CNC manufacturer addresses possible connector problems in this FAQ document .

@Aiph5u

If one day you find that your Z-axis moves up and down as it pleases and ruins your workpiece and your wasteboard, you might find that it’s because the connectors can make problems (see also here), which may be caused by the fact that you did not yet retrofit strain relief to your machine , which the machine unfortunately lacks. In this case you may want to procure what is needed to make new cables yourself. The same applies if you want custom length cables which would be the case if you want to mount the controller further away.

So what I would try before risking to loose another piece of wood, is check the cables and especially its connectors, and where they are crimped (if you can look a little into them, do they come out when you move the connector on the cable) or do you measure discontinuity in resistance between both ends with a multimeter? You can use the search function to search for cable multimeter to find how others solved their issue. Unfortunately if you search for plunges workpiece you can find many other who observed their machine ruining a workpiece.

Should this be the cause of your issue, the best thing to avoid that in the future is to retrofit a serious cable management system to the machine, especially where the cables hang freely without strain relief on moving parts, as is the case for the X and Z stepper cables where they enter the left end of X axis, and the curly Z cable often fails after a longer time too.

@Aiph5u

I would check all the points in the help document “Troubleshooting: Rail is getting hung, stuck, or out of alignment” one by one.

Also note that cables not only fail on their connectors. A multimeter can help. Also be aware that neither Onefinity cable is made for permanent motion in a CNC. Sometimes replacing the curly Z cable, that can break internally, or retrofitting strain relief on the machine can help (or better retrofitting a drag chain system that runs cables specifically made for permanent motion).

It was already the choice of these Molex connectors on the Buildbotics controller that was a mistake that Onefinity inherited on their hardware fork, but it’s quite obvious that the machine/controller was also about a low price threshold. With gold-plated circular connectors as used in the industry and a proper cable management (drag chain) this happens less of course.